The effect of online social value on satisfaction and continued use of social media

Abstract

Social media offers customers a unique service value proposition. Recognizing service value as a pivotal concept, this study develops an aggregate construct of online social value, whereby customers evaluate utilitarian and hedonic benefits relative to what they must sacrifice in effort and risk in deriving a value calculation of online social networking services which predicts satisfaction and continued use of online social media, such as Facebook. By empirically testing a model that explains online social value, this research contributes to information systems (IS) theory by introducing a customer value perspective in the social media context and helps service providers by identifying factors predicting satisfaction and continued use that might be employed to improve offerings to keep customers coming back.

Keywords:

• online social networking service
• online social value
• social media
• satisfaction
• continued use
• services
• longitudinal research
• Social Exchange Theory

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tao Hu

About the Authors

Tao Hu is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at King University, U.S.A., and has been an invited professor at the College of Business Administration at Yangzhou University, China. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Chinese Literature from Yangzhou University, China, and Master’s and Ph.D. in MIS from The University of Memphis.

William J Kettinger

William Kettinger is a Professor and FedEx Chair of Excellence in MIS at The University of Memphis. Bill serves as Senior Editor of MISQ and MISQ Executive. He is on the editorial board of JAIS and previously served as Associate Editor at ISR and MISQ. He has received the Society of Information Management’s best paper award and directed a SIM APC study on IT value. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of South Carolina, M.P.A. from Massachusetts at Amherst, and B.S. from Northeastern University.

Robin S Poston

Robin Poston is an Associate Professor of MIS at The University of Memphis. She has over 12 years of consulting experience with KPMG Consulting, Meta Group, Convergys, and so on. She serves as an Associate Editor at the European Journal of Information Systems and the Decision Sciences Journal. She received her Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Pennsylvania, Masters in Accounting from Central Florida, and Ph.D. in MIS from Michigan State.